The federal New Democrats plan to make pharmacare a central issue in the next election if the Liberals do not meet the bar the opposition party has set for legislation to reduce the cost of prescription drugs.The confidence-and-supply deal that sees the NDP supporting the minority Liberals on key votes in the House of Commons says the government will introduce a bill to create a framework for national pharmacare this year.NDP members have drawn a line in the sand by passing an emergency resolution at their policy convention in Hamilton this weekend thatsays the party should withdraw its suppor

Authorities say a 71-year-old Illinois man has been charged with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a young boy and seriously wounded a woman because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war.The Will County Sheriff's Office says in a statement that the man was in custody Sunday and is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.Authorities say they found the woman and the 6-year-old child repeatedly stabbed Saturday morning at a home southwest of Chicago.The sheriff's office says the woman was hospitaliz

Global Affairs Canada has confirmed the death of a fifth Canadian in Israel after a series of attacks by Hamas militants, while Canadians in the besieged Gaza Strip still have no way to get out.Three other Canadians who were in Israel when the attacks happened Oct. 7 are still missing, officials said Sunday.Global Affairs did not provide details of the fifth person who died or those who are missing, citing privacy reasons.More than 6,800 Canadians are registered in Israel, and more than 450 in the West Bank and Gaza.Canada is currently assisting about 3,300 permanent residents, Canadians and t

Finance Minister Nate Horner says if Alberta abandons the Canada Pension Plan to run its own stand-alone fund, it will not adopt Quebec's model, which mandates optimizing returns while also investing in the province.Horner's comments come three weeks after Premier Danielle Smith said her government wants to hear from Albertans first before it makes decisions such as whether to follow the Quebec model.Horner says legislation will be introduced this fall to effectively cancel out using the Quebec model and spell out that any pension assets would only be used for a pension plan.He says when it co

The parliamentary budget officer says higher interest rates will lead the economy to stagnate in the second half of the year and the federal deficit will rise significantly this fiscal year.The PBO released its economic and fiscal outlook today, providing updated projections for the economy and federal finances as high interest rates weigh on growth.The budget officer also says it expects consumer spending to remain weak in the second half of 2023 and throughout the first half of 2024.Faced with slower growth in government revenues and higher expenses, the federal deficit is projected to rise

The City of Surrey says it is filing a petition in the B.C. Supreme Court challenging the province's order to convert the RCMP into a municipal police force.The move, announced in a statement on Friday, has been a long-running dispute."My team and I were elected to stop the proposed police change," Mayor Brenda Locke said in a statement.It is worth mentioning that on July 19, B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth directed the City of Surrey to replace its existing RCMP force with the Surrey Police Service.Farnworth said everyone has a right to be safe in their community and all British Co

The Quebec government is doubling tuition for out-of-province students to give more money to francophone universities.Tuition for Canadians outside Quebec will jump to $17,000 from $8,992 beginning fall 2024, while the minimum tuition for international students will be $20,000.Quebec's English universities have far more international and out-of-province students compared to the French institutions.Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry says the new rates are justified because the majority of out-of-province students leave Quebec after their studies but benefit from preferential tuition rates.

The RCMP says it's aware of social media posts threatening the Jewish community in Canada, calling it a time for "increased vigilance."The statement comes as several Canadian polices forces, including in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, say they have upped patrols in response to the Israel-Hamas war but have not identified any specific local threats.A spokesperson for the Mounties declined to answer further questions about the social media threats, including whether the force was investigating.The statement says any threats are taken seriously and investigated as warranted.The Ontario Provincial

The Israeli army on Friday told the nearly one million Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the northern territory.The army has prepared to attack the Hamas terrorist group, due to which these orders have been given to almost half of the population of Gaza.The United Nations has warned that such mass exodus could be catastrophic.On the other hand, Hamas has described these orders as a trick of Israel and asked people to stay in their homes.It has been seven days since this terrible war, attacks are happening from both sides.More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed in the Hamas attack, incl